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Warren E. Pelerson Jerome P. Filla Daniel Witt Frain Clem A. Bergman John Michael Miller ,Michael T. oberle Steven H. Bruns eve Paul W. Fahning Sonja R. Ortiz Amy K. L. Schmidt Ben 1, Rust Jonathan R. Cuskey fared M. Goerlitz Noah Simon Assistant City Administrator City of Arden Hills 1245 West Highway 96 Arden Hills, Minnesota 55112 a 01 aq YAW PROFESSIONAL AS S 0 C I A T 1 0 N July 31, 2008 RE: Rental Licensing, Code Enforcement and Administrative Citations Dear Noah: Suite 800 55 East Fifth Street St, Paul. MN 55101-1718 (651) 291-8955 1651) 228-1753 facsimile www.pfb-pa.com (651)290-6907 il U136PPt-pa.com .VIA EMAIL Recently, the City of Arden Hills has been considering whether to establish a licensing ordinance for rental properties within the City. A citizens" task force met on two occasions to discuss the merits of such an ordinance., and other alternatives. The task force has made its recommendation to the Council. As I understand the background of the discussion, there is some concern among the Council and the community about on -going property issues, such as parking, property maintenance, noise, nuisance conditions, and the like. As the task force debated the issues, they also discussed pursuing stepped up enforcement of the City's applicable Code provisions through the Building Official. This was relevant to the question of rental licensing because such activity could provide a viable alternative to a rental licensing ordinance. The task force also discussed the possibility of a rental registration ordinance, and seemed interested in exploring alternatives to rental licensing or rental registration. In addition to the implementation of a rental licensing ordinance,, or a rental registration as a means of addressing on -going property concerns,, the City has a number of options availablel, namely code enforcement, civil actions, abatement authority, hazardous building provisions, and administrative fines. Each of these options is available for both rental and owner -occupied properties. Each option is discussed below. Code Enforcement 'By Notice and Citation. The City's usual Code Enforcement process starts,when a property owner files a complaint regarding the use or the maintenance of a neighbo . r's property. At this stage,, the identity of the reporting property owner is confidential pursuant to the terms of the Minnesota Data Practices Act. Upon the receipt of the complaint, the City usually undertakes the following: 'AL -SC AUNUTTED IN WiSCONSIN